Social Justice Committee - March
Susan Auerbach and Linda Mazur were on hand near midnight on February 5th with welcome signs and flowers to greet the Afghan family of four with whom the PJTC Welcome Circle has been matched. A meal from Heidar Baba halal restaurant awaited them in the now fully furnished and supplied apartment in a convenient Pasadena location. Men’s Club and Sisterhood have been amazing partners in making certain that the new home meets their needs and reflects the generosity and warmth of our community, which they reciprocate through hospitality and instant friendship.
Every member of our team has an assigned area of commitment from connecting with educational resources and social services to applying for medical benefits and available resources. Before their arrival, Howard Landau arranged for the utilities to be turned on, their phone, TV and internet service set up and running, and the necessary financial arrangements were in place. The process of obtaining secure resident status and introducing the legal and cultural expectations is being facilitated by Joe Widman. Ruth Wolman, Tammy Silver, Franci Grater and Carl Selkin also respond to anticipated and unanticipated needs.
We are looking forward to helping with employment (they have social security cards and work permits), driver training and licensing—indeed, the whole range of opportunities for independence and fulfillment that we may take for granted.
To learn more, please access the recording of the February 13 Interfaith Study Group Meeting that you may have missed (because of the Superbowl, perhaps).
On Sunday March 6th, at 10:00 a.m. SJC presents another window into the HIAS initiatives to resettle Afghan refugees, with updates from our own Circle and from the HIAS organization. The concept of Welcome Circles is, itself, a new way to add an alternative approach to resettling refugees and asylum seekers, an innovation modeled on a Canadian practice to augment the overwhelmed, traditional NGOs and agencies.
We expect that by the time this March Flame ignites, SJC will have introduced nearly 200 Webinar participants to the ongoing need to counter voter suppression. The program will consist of the screening of Brave New Films’ documentary Suppressed 2021, the distribution of a discussion and action guide, and discussion by filmmaker Robert Greenwald.
Enjoy Purim and get ready to participate in the Social Justice Seder as a component of the PJTC community Seder. More on that soon.
By Carl Selkin, SJC Committee Member
